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Letters June 9, 2011

Oh my goodness. Once again we are fighting over the tiniest things. I’ve given up on trying to change the feud overall, but I would like to say that I think we ought to seriously reconsider our stand on the Big Belly trash cans.

I absolutely love our aesthetics. It is what makes Chestnut Hill a charming and livable place, but I also love planet earth and want to keep her around for our children and others to come. It’s time to get a little more progressive here in terms of helping the earth be a cleaner and less throw-away world.

I commend Amy Edelman and her team for going gung-ho on green in a town that has not generally grabbed a hold of progressive measures. But she can’t do it alone. We need to all decide now – do we want beautiful old-fashioned trash cans (often with garbage spilling out of them) or can we go ahead and conserve some trash for the future.

Handling the handle issue – well that gave me quite a chuckle. What will we think of next! I imagine we each touch hundreds of pieces of public property every single day. We don’t seem too worried about that. I was just in the bank the other day and had to open the door with my own naked hand. So far I’ve been fine – no rash, no disease, nothing. You get my point.

Of course, it’s Chestnut Hill, so I don’t expect to change every mind, maybe not even many, but if enough of us can vie for our ecological future, I for one will give a big cheer for Chestnut Hill. Maybe one day we’ll get bored with the fight!

Annie Hart
Chestnut Hill

College expansion wins a convert

I could not help but laugh when I saw the letter of Ed Feldman as usual telling Chestnut Hillers what to do with their community and attacking the Chestnut Hill Community Association for allowing some people outside the borders of Chestnut Hill to become CHCA members. Am I the only one who noticed the irony of the word written under Ed Feldman’s name – “Roxborough?”

In other words, it’s OK for him to live outside of Chestnut Hill and disrupt CHCA meetings and attack everything that Chestnut Hill stands for, but it’s not alright for CHCA to have members living in Wyndmoor, Erdenheim, Lafayette Hill, Mt. Airy, etc.

The worst thing the Chestnut Hill College expansion opponents can have is Ed Feldman on their side. If they are smart, they will send him on a one-way trip to the Arctic Circle. Ed Feldman has made it clear time and time again that he could not care less about anyone in Chestnut Hill. He is a loudmouth, blowhard egomaniac who has admitted in articles in the Local that he will do anything to call attention to his own disruptive, childish antics.

If the CHCA said that two and two are four, he’d insist it was five. I actually was not sure how I stood on this issue, although I think the Local has done a very fair job of presenting both sides. Now that I have heard from Roxborough’s circus clown, however, I have to believe that the Chestnut Hill College expansion must be justified.

Paul Taylor
Chestnut Hill

CHCA remains loyal to residents

I welcome Mrs. [Arabella] Pope’s letter and Dr. [George] Spaeth’s Op/Ed published last week. Nearby neighbors should express their concerns, as should our whole community. We through that committee, a coalition of neighborhood organizations, are working hard with the college to resolve those remaining concerns.

I must, however, take issue with Mrs. Pope in that nobody is accusing the nearby neighbors of whining, of being short-sighted NIMBYites, or of being bullies. There are simply still some areas of disagreement among that nine-member committee. I should emphasize that the majority of members – seven of the nine – in agreement include not only CHCA but also the Historical Society, the Friends of the Wissahickon, and the CHBA.

With most of what Dr. Spaeth writes, I completely agree. But, I must respectfully take strong issue with his suggestion that CHCA has deteriorated into a community organization somehow captive of institutional and business interests. Not true! Will never be true! The CHCA remains a grassroots community organization that represents and serves primarily the residents – all the residents, of Chestnut Hill.

Zoning/development issues are commonly the most contentious in any community. The CHCA must decide those questions. When it does, it must consider what is good for the whole community, giving special weight to the real interests of nearby neighbors.

Inevitably some nearby neighbors will disagree with those decisions. We must consider what our highly professional volunteer committees recommend, do what is right for all, and take our hits from those who would exploit any such disagreements and move on to resolve issues – including this largest one of all. In all things at all times, we are loyal to all the residents of Chestnut Hill and to no one else.

Walt Sullivan
Immediate Past President of CHCA

School officials like Arab sheiks

Like every other person who cares about public education, I am horrified by the hundreds of millions of dollars being cut in Gov. Corbett’s budget to public schools in Philadelphia, hundreds of teachers being laid off, etc. But one thing I find really disturbing is that with all of those draconian cuts, not one six-figure job in Ackerman’s administration building has been cut, and not one of those hundreds of positions (in my opinion, most of them worthless) has to pay so much as one penny more for health insurance or towards their ultra-generous retirement funds, all of which come out of our pockets.

So can someone tell me why the working class and middle class taxpayers of Philadelphia should pay 10 percent more of our already-too- high real estate taxes, which Mayor Nutter wants us to do, as long as all of those bloated, overpaid head-in-the-sand alleged school district administrators continue to live like Arab sheiks in their ivory tower at our expense?

Albert Hoffler
Mt. Airy

The Platinum Grille discovered

I recently experienced an extraordinary neighborhood restaurant, the Platinum Grille! I have been a resident of Chestnut Hill for six years and recently discovered this restaurant in the Market Square Shopping Center, a five minute walk from my house. I was surprised to come across this quaint looking establishment as I was on my way to get an MRI.

Who knew that you could get an MRI in Chestnut Hill’s Market Square Shopping Center and not have to go to the hospital? I discovered a dentist’s office, Christian bookstore, a beauty supply store, two banks, a drug store and fitness center all in one location.

Who knew that all these conveniences were located in the back yards of Chestnut Hillers? If I didn’t know these places existed, I wondered if others didn’t know; so I figured it was my responsibility to help pass the information around.

Platinum Grille has excellent food, reasonable prices, awesome drinks and plenty of parking for those who prefer not to walk the short distance from their homes and local shops. It’s a great place to dine, meet for drinks and throw a party!

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Community Crime Meeting on April 22 at 7 p.m. Chestnut Hill Library, 8711 Germantown Ave. Come find out what the status of crime is in your neighborhood. Do you have a question or concern about a quality[...]

March 31 at 7:30 p.m. at The Dixon House at St. Paul’s Church, 22 E. Chestnut Hill Ave. Guest speaker Ellen Evans, an eldercare professional with 20 years of experience and a current family member[...]

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